The attorneys general of 13 states and Washington DC this week expressed support for a federal lawsuit by the Mexican government that accuses a group of American gun manufacturers of facilitating the trafficking of weapons to criminals in Mexico, fueling gun violence.
Highlights
- The AGs say a federal law protecting gun manufacturers does not apply in this case.
- The gunmakers, along with a distributor, use “reckless and corrupt gun dealers and dangerous and illegal sales practices that the cartels rely on to get their guns,” the lawsuit claims.
- The defendants, among them brands like Smith & Wesson, Colt and Glock, are accused of facilitating the trafficking of weapons to criminals in Mexico.
- The National Shooting Sports Foundation says the lawsuit is “not filing a baseless lawsuit in an American court to deflect attention” from its “disgraceful and corrupt failure to protect its citizens,” a spokesman says.
- The lawsuit says homicides in Mexico declined between 1999 and 2004, when the US had a a ban on assault weapons.